Golf Viewers Call Out ‘Stupid’ Rule After Jon Rahm Is Confronted by Official During $9M Tournament

After rounds of 71, 69 and 69, Rahm’s performance has been decent at the BMW PGA Championship. However, a stroke of bad luck might have penalized the golfer, ruining all his progress. An unwanted ball movement has made Jon Rahm seemingly face a probable penalty shot.

At the par-4, 13th hole, the golfer landed his tee shot 163 yards away from the pin. But during his usual swing routines before the shot, the ball moved towards his club and was called out by the official. The golfer was surprised by the decision to call it a fault from Rahm. In the video shared by DP World Tour, the Spaniard had a long discussion with the official, convincing him that if the club touched the ball, it would go forward and not the opposite. He even insisted on having a discussion after the round and have a look at the close-up shots to decide further. 

Well, the official agreed to the decision after the round but asked Rahm to place the ball back to its original position, which was merely a few inches. Despite that, the golfer continued with his play and scored par on the 13th. Even though, as the round concluded, the golfer was not awarded any penalties. However, his luck was not this good in 2020 at Muirfield Village Golf Club.

Back in 2020, the golfer in the final round of the Memorial Tournament was held accountable for moving the ball with his practice swing. The ball merely moved a single dimple, but when he got to know, he was shocked. However, the golfer led the tournament with a 5-stroke lead, so the penalty did not harm‌ him. Even with the win, he became the OWGR leader. 

This instances point to an intersting conflict with the USGA rules. As per the USGA, if your ball is moved by natural forces: “If your ball is moved by any of these natural forces, there is no penalty and you will generally just play your ball from its new location. The one exception to that is on the putting green.” This creates a conflict with Rahm’s acountablity of his actions. Even if the movement of the ball can be considered due to the practice swing as golf balls are not the heaviest of things, it would still be a little dicey since the golfer did not directly come into contact of the ball.

So, it was obvious that fans would have something to say regarding it. Moreover, being the top prospect at the BMW PGA Championship, fans were quite furious.

Fans offer a blunt take on the incident with Jon Rahm

Despite the incident being two days old, the fans are still marching into the comments section in support of the golfer.

One of the fans wrote, “I love golf, but some of the ruling videos are borderline embarrassing to watch.” The carousel with multiple videos involved a long discussion, which led to the final decision of putting the ball back. In fact, the videos showcased Rahm insisting on taking the discussion after the round to address the pace of play. 

Another joined writing, “Some of these rules need looking at We could do with some more common sense in Golf.” The ball, which moved backward due to lying on a slope and a grassy surface. But according to the rules official, it was the fault of Rahm. A similar instance happened back in the 2022 BMW Championship, where Rahm’s fellow Hideki Matsuyama was called in for the same. Matsuyama, who practiced his shot a foot away from the ball, was called for moving the ball. But luckily, with the support of Jon Rahm, the rules official left him without a penalty and asked him to continue where the ball lay. 

More fans joined, one wrote, “Aren’t we now at the stage in golf where some rules need amending or even removing. There is no clear advantage.” The 13 rules of golf were created in 1744, but were later amended in 2019. However, since then, it’s been 6 years without any change, and with the game evolving, both golfers and rules officials are struggling with it. The fans demand ‌better rules for such instances. 

While others added, “It’s stuff like this that’s a big factor in the slow pace of play we’re seeing constantly. It’s even more ridiculous considering they’re playing preferred lies,” and “This is ridiculous.” Both the officials and the golfer were involved in a lengthy discussion to find a conclusion and look at the evidence available. The debate took minutes to decide, and as a conclusion, Jon Rahm was instructed to put the ball back to its original position.